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The on board acoustic piano sounds of my Casio PX-110 are pretty bad, even when played through external powered speakers (Yamaha YST-M50). I am now exploring the possibility of using my XP laptop computer with piano sample software. The computer has 2GB memory and 1.66 GHz processor. The computer has Cubase installed. I am soliciting your recommendations for piano sample software that would work adequately for live informal performances using this computer. Even old versions of software products would be fine as long as they sounded decent and latency was tolerable. I am most interested in acoustic grand sounds. Less expensive is good. Thanks.

The clock speed of the processor is not enough information to get an idea of its performance. For example a 1.66 Ghz atom laptop can play almost no current software piano adequately. On the other hand a recent multicore desktop processor at this speed (assuming there is one) would do fine with many products. Most ordinary laptop processors would be somewhere in between and therefore very marginal.

glen: It sounds as though you're seeing exactly what I saw in years past: The piano sounds are poor, and the recommendations for piano libraries promise a fix. So that's what I did.

Your 1.66 GHz CPU speed is similar to my wife's netbook. But hers is running Windows 7, and it's VERY SLOOOOOW. Not suitable for piano usage. It's barely adequate for surf and email.

But I run the piano quite successfully on a 1.7 GHz Core Duo laptop running Windows XP. XP is much lighter on resource consumption than Windows 7, and it's adequate to the task.

You have "only" 2 GB RAM. But for me that's quite adequate under XP. I load up four or five pianos at once so that I can instantly switch from one to another (or play two of them together). And 2 GB is still adequate. (I don't think it has the ooomph to do the multi-track synthesis, mixing, and editing that some people like to do. But for "just playing piano" it's fine.)

I'm not able to make any detailed evaluation of your PC. But if it's a normal laptop, it just might be okay for this purpose. If it's a netbook, then (as gvfarns suggests) it's doubtful.

The clock speed of the processor is not enough information to get an idea of its performance. For example a 1.66 Ghz atom laptop can play almost no current software piano adequately. On the other hand a recent multicore desktop processor at this speed (assuming there is one) would do fine with many products. Most ordinary laptop processors would be somewhere in between and therefore very marginal.

glen: It sounds as though you're seeing exactly what I saw in years past: The piano sounds are poor, and the recommendations for piano libraries promise a fix. So that's what I did.

Your 1.66 GHz CPU speed is similar to my wife's netbook. But hers is running Windows 7, and it's VERY SLOOOOOW. Not suitable for piano usage. It's barely adequate for surf and email.

But I run the piano quite successfully on a 1.7 GHz Core Duo laptop running Windows XP. XP is much lighter on resource consumption than Windows 7, and it's adequate to the task.

You have "only" 2 GB RAM. But for me that's quite adequate under XP. I load up four or five pianos at once so that I can instantly switch from one to another (or play two of them together). And 2 GB is still adequate. (I don't think it has the ooomph to do the multi-track synthesis, mixing, and editing that some people like to do. But for "just playing piano" it's fine.)

I'm not able to make any detailed evaluation of your PC. But if it's a normal laptop, it just might be okay for this purpose. If it's a netbook, then (as gvfarns suggests) it's doubtful.

It's kind of marginal but will probably work with a normal VST like Galaxy. Before shelling out for that, try a couple of the free trials like True Pianos, PianoTeq, and Pianissimo. If they all work ok, get Galaxy Vintage D. If not, get a new computer.

Also, assuming you don't have an ASIO soundcard, you might like to install Asio4all to reduce latency. http://www.asio4all.com/

This Sampletekk Black Kontakt piano is half price at the moment http://www.sampletekk.com/proddetail.php?prod=STDELIVER-039-KONT . I didn't love it at first, but after adding a bit of eq here and there I quite like it now. The piano it was sampled from has a few imperfections, but I've grown to like these and see them as "character".

Yep, I agree with gvfarns. I would only add that you ought not be discouraged by the sound of those pianos (True Pianos, Pianissimo, Pianoteq). Use them to test your equipment capability because they have free demos, but don't judge piano libraries by those alone. There are better ones. I like the Galaxy series much better.

It's kind of marginal but will probably work with a normal VST like Galaxy. Before shelling out for that, try a couple of the free trials like True Pianos, PianoTeq, and Pianissimo. If they all work ok, get Galaxy Vintage D. If not, get a new computer.

I had some difficulty with Truepianos, but I think it was the USB interface hub I was using. Tascam US-800. It was deeply discounted when I bought it, and now I understand why. Flaky Windows driver I have read in other discussion groups and reviews. Pianoteq and Pianissimo worked well with smallish buffer sizes, with no noticeable latency. I had fun with them. Frustration with Truepianos. I'll give Truepianos another try tomorrow (later today actually).

I agree that Pianoteq will run the easiest on your current computer. The Grand 3 (made by the same folks who created Cubase)has an Eco Mode and RAM save functions, in addition to an already smaller installation size of 30-40GB, that is, if you install every piano. Still, the Grand 3 is hardly the elite piano sample library, but is built to run lighter than the larger softwares like Ivory, Galaxy, and EWQL.

If I were you, I'd upgrade your current computer, then choose the library your inner pianist craves rather than being held back by your system's lack of adequate resources.

I agree that Pianoteq will run the easiest on your current computer. The Grand 3 (made by the same folks who created Cubase)has an Eco Mode and RAM save functions, in addition to an already smaller installation size of 30-40GB, that is, if you install every piano. Still, the Grand 3 is hardly the elite piano sample library, but is built to run lighter than the larger softwares like Ivory, Galaxy, and EWQL.

If I were you, I'd upgrade your current computer, then choose the library your inner pianist craves rather than being held back by your system's lack of adequate resources.

Thanks for your feedback. My inner pianist craves playing piano more than it craves elite sample libraries. I have a couple M&H pianos (AA and BB) in my living room if I'm feeling choosy. I find that I can get used to almost any piano and make things sound "musical". This particular sample library project that everyone here is helping me with is for a special situation. I bought a digital slab piano and left it with my family in Minnesota. I spend most of my time in California. When I visit them I want to have something that's in tune and has a decent action. I know that using it as a midi controller and running it through sound modules would improve the sound dramatically. I do that with an old Yamaha CLP-50 I have in Montana. I run it through a Kurzweil 1000 px. Old odds and ends that end up sounding pretty good. Good enough that I can play music with expression. That's all I'm really looking for. Pianissimo will serve my needs for my keyboard in Minnesota, but I will check out the elite piano sample libraries for the fun of it. From what I read online, the minimum system requirements for Galaxy Vintage D are quite a bit less than the computer I am using. So anyway, I won't be getting a new computer just so I can play this piano when I visit my family in Minnesota a few times a year.

So actually, if you were me, you might not get a new computer :^)

I appreciate the information everyone has provided in this discussion. Thanks!

If I were you and didn't want to buy a new computer, I'd pick up a $50 or so external USB hard drive (make sure you get a 7200rpm one) and install Vintage D on it (just the library, not the application itself). If that's within your budget, you'd be up around $200 by the time you're done.

I can't say enough good things about the Vintage D, it's the best software piano I've owned by far.

If I were you and didn't want to buy a new computer, I'd pick up a $50 or so external USB hard drive (make sure you get a 7200rpm one) and install Vintage D on it (just the library, not the application itself). If that's within your budget, you'd be up around $200 by the time you're done.

I can't say enough good things about the Vintage D, it's the best software piano I've owned by far.

If I were you and didn't want to buy a new computer, I'd pick up a $50 or so external USB hard drive (make sure you get a 7200rpm one) and install Vintage D on it (just the library, not the application itself). If that's within your budget, you'd be up around $200 by the time you're done.

I can't say enough good things about the Vintage D, it's the best software piano I've owned by far.

In the past, it's always been recommended that streaming audio samples be done from a separate hard drive other than the one that has the operating system on it. Nowadays with faster computers you can sometimes get away with not doing that, especially if you have a solid state drive, where access time is very fast.

My old XP machine, which is a C2D at 2ghz with 2gb of memory, runs Ivory 1, which is more demanding than the Vint D, just fine with the library on a separate 7200rpm hard drive. Otherwise, the processor would get overwhelmed.

There was a thread here where someone suggested trying a fast USB thumb drive for sample library playback. I don't know how successful that was..

I have an XP laptop that's older and slower than yours. It runs Ivory 1 and Vintage D on the internal drive, no problems at all.

The external drive recommendation applies when creating music from multiple tracks with multiple instruments. I'll call that "music engineering" unless someone has a better term. There is a very high demand for data, so an external drive or an SSD may be needed.

I've never had great success playing piano samples with low latency and normal damper useage on a single hard drive system, but everyone's mileage is different. OTOH, Pianoteq ran great on my 1.60ghz netbook with Asio4All.

As has been said, using the Pianoteq demo or Pianissimo demo to test your system might be a good indicator of capabilities. I think Pianissimo is a great bang-for-the-buck option, but the Galaxy pianos are in another class altogether.

I've never had great success playing piano samples with low latency and normal damper useage on a single hard drive system, but everyone's mileage is different. OTOH, Pianoteq ran great on my 1.60ghz netbook with Asio4All.

As has been said, using the Pianoteq demo or Pianissimo demo to test your system might be a good indicator of capabilities. I think Pianissimo is a great bang-for-the-buck option, but the Galaxy pianos are in another class altogether.

I am pretty happy with the Pianissimo demo and ASIO4ALL.

I have not seen a way to do an evaluation of the Galaxy Vintage D other than to buy it. Can anyone point me to a Galaxy Vintage D demo download link?

I know it's not as good as getting an actual demo on your computer, but believe me I've tried to download those things as sets of compressed iso files more than 4GB each and it takes forever. That's probably why most companies don't bother making a downloadable trial.

There are You Tube videos, but no demo versions of Vintage D.Buy it! You'll like it!Beats Pianissimo by a long mile.

I believe you. The other thing I am considering is the external powered speakers (Yamaha YST-M50) I will be playing through. Left and right satellite speakers plus sub woofer. Compact, portable and good for practice and small gatherings. Some of the subtleties of the elite sample programs probably would be lost, especially at higher volumes where distortion becomes more pronounced. So Pianissimo might be the right selection because it is not as good as some of the other better (and more expensive) options.

I might be the first forum participant who has posted that they are choosing one product over another because it is worse. Tah-dah! :^)